Monthly Archives: January 2014

One of these days, I will make a post with some good recruiting news. With National Signing Day coming up, hopefully that happens very soon, even if on that day. But alas, here is another post about a Louisville commit now going elsewhere, and the latest is 3-star wide receiver T.J. Foster.

Foster is from Union, South Carolina and is visiting South Carolina State this weekend. According to Ryan Bartow and 247 sports, he committed to play football there while on his visit.

This would give the Cards 15 total commits for the 2014 class, with 3 of them already being enrolled. So it should be a busy few days leading up to Wednesday’s National Signing Day.

A lot of are down today because of the loss yesterday. It happens. Well cheer up. We have the same record we had last year at this time and are ranked the exact same as we were. Is that me saying I feel like we are a definite Title game team? No, but I am saying don’t lose hope. I looked to the internet for some pick me ups and I ran into Russ Smith. Here is what he said:

That helped a lot. I then wondered…where would we be without Russ. What would we have done had he left. I am glad he had these things to say.

This is a pretty cool video here. If you read my thoughts on how the Charlie Strong saga went down, you know I was bitter about the situation. But even in saying that, the video of him crowd surfing in the locker room is still one of the best clips ever, can’t deny that.

Following a 2013 season that saw the program’s 10th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, the No. 19/18 Louisville Cardinals top the 2014 American Athletic Conference Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, as selected by the conference’s eight head coaches.

Louisville received six of seven possible first place votes for 48 total points to take the honor. The Cardinals are coming off an impressive 2013 season, which saw the program post a 47-13 overall record and an 18-4 conference mark in the former Big East. Despite finishing third in the Big East in the regular season and falling to eventual champion USF in the Big East Championship semifinals, Louisville earned an at-large selection to the 2013 NCAA Tournament and home field advantage in the Regional round. The 2014 Cardinal squad will feature eight letterwinners and six starters returning, including senior and 2013 NFCA Second Team All-American second baseman Katie Keller. Four other seniors and Big East award winners, pitchers Rachel LeCoq and Caralisa Connell, outfielder Hannah Kiyohara and catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod, will join Keller in pursuit of an 11th straight NCAA bid, all of which have come under 14th-year head coach Sandy Pearsall.

No. 25/23 USF took the second-place slot in the Preseason Poll, picking up one first place vote and 44 overall points. The reigning Big East Champions, the Bulls earned their first-ever conference championship last season and advanced to their second-straight NCAA Tournament, which marked the 11th appearance in program history. Head coach Ken Eriksen became the all-time winningest coach in any sport in USF history last season, leading his Bulls to a 45-16 record (18-3 Big East). USF has a wealth of talent returning for 2014, including NFCA Third Team All-American pitcher Sara Nevins, who posted a 1.20 ERA last season. 2013’s top hitter, Kourtney Salvarola, and NFCA All-Regional selection Stephanie Medina will anchor USF as seniors at shortstop and first base, respectively.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball team was ranked 13th in the USA Today preseason Top 25 coaches’ poll released on Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday’s poll marked the Cardinals’ fourth top 20 preseason ranking in 2014. Earlier this week, Louisville was ranked 16th by Perfect Game and 20th by Baseball America, while last month, the Cardinals were tabbed eighth by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. The Cardinals have earned preseason top 25 rankings in seven straight seasons under the direction of head coach Dan McDonnell.

Bobby Petrino and the Louisville Football team won’t be the only team hosting some important visitors tomorrow night. The Louisville basketball team will have a couple of elite shooters form the 2014 and 2015 class on campus for the UCF game. 2014 SG Lyrik Shreiner (AZ) (Pictured Above) and 2015 SG Luke Kennard will both be in attendance tomorrow night.

Rick has made it clear he wants to add a shooter to this 2014 class and Lyrik is just that. The 6’4 SG was looking into reclassifying to the 2015 class but recent interest from the Cards, UConn, Memphis, and the Kansas Jayhawks may have him rethinking that choice . Earlier this year Lyrik broke the Arizona state record going for 65 points in one game……yea he can fill it up folks. Don’t know if the Cards can land a commitment this weekend but Lyrik Shreiner would be an absolute steal and a great add to the 2014 class headed into the ACC. You can follow Lyrik on Twitter @Cyborg2Cold

2015 5 star SG Luke Kennard (OH) will also be in the house. While this one looks to be headed Uk’s way the Cards may be the only team that can unseat the Cats for Kennard. Kennards team will also be playing at Fairdale High School at 6pm on Saturday.

4-star safety Nilijah Ballew committed to the Cards in April of 2013, nearly a year ago. With Charlie Strong going to Texas and Bobby Petrino being hired at Louisville, there has been uncertainty with many of the guys who were committed to Louisville while Strong was here. Some have flipped their commitments and for different reasons. This one certainly is not a case where the player saw a new coaching staff come in so he wanted to leave. In this case, the player fell in love with the university and the city, and now he has to find somewhere else to play college football.

Ballew was originally set to visit the University of Louisville 2 weeks ago, but the staff pushed his visit back to this coming weekend. This made him nervous, thinking that the staff was looking to recruit over him, so Ballew did what any smart athlete would do, and found backup plans. He visited Indiana on the weekend he was supposed to originally be at Louisville, and enjoyed it.

USC QB Max Wittek announced he will transfer from the school and be eligible to play immediately. Wittek, a top 5 QB coming out of High School, played in 5 games last season as a Sophomore. Where Wittek will end up is not known at this time but one USC site Reign of Troy believes the Cards could be a possible spot. They believe the top 5 spots to land Wittek are Louisville, Fresno State, San Jose St., Texas, and Florida. Heres what they had to say about the Cards:

Louisville Cardinals: “In a trend with Fresno State and San Jose State, the Cards are having to replace an NFL arm in Teddy Bridgewater. Redshirt sophomore Will Gardner has the inside track, having been in tow for the last two years. But add a whole new coaching staff under Bobby Petrino and a move to the ACC and interest in adding Wittek seems viable. Former UAB head coach Garrick McGee will run the Louisville offense as the Cards’ new OC and he’s a run very similar pro-style attack to Lane Kiffin. McGee coached Ryan Mallett while the offensive coordinator at Arkansas, a quarterback with plenty of tendencies that are comparable to Wittek. Under McGee’s tutelage, Mallett blossomed, throwing for 3,869 yards and 32 touchdowns as senior. Wittek could see that potential in the McGee offense and a potentially winnable quarterback battle and find himself in the ACC.”

While Texas may have the inside track and the Cards are by no means hurting for QB’s Wittek could become one to watch.

According to DeaconsIllustrated.com, which is the Rivals site for Wake Forest, tight end Devin Pike has flipped his commitment from Louisville to Wake Forest. In the article, which you can read here, Pike said “I had a great connection with the Wake Forest coaches. I felt a good connection when I came down for my visit. I love Louisville. It was a great place [with] great coaches, but Wake Forest was the best opportunity for me. They’re [Wake’s coaches] definitely real happy.”

Pike did not have an official visit planned to Louisville and the current staff wasn’t said to be heavily recruiting him, so this doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

Another former Louisville commit, Rashawn Shaw also flipped to Wake Forest last week.

If you read the title of this post, you may think it isn’t a big deal, just another award for Rick Pitino. Then when I say that the runner-up was Tom Jurich and in third place was Teddy Bridgewater, you may think that this was a poll done on Louisville’s campus. This is actually the Lexington Hearald-Leader Kentucky Sportsman of the Year, and it is voted on by media members in Kentucky. So yes, in a Lexington-based newspaper, the top 3 vote-getters were Rick Pitino, Tom Jurich, and Teddy Bridgewater. Not too bad. Other interesting finishers in the top 10: Charlie Strong and 9th and Russ Smith at 10th.

Top 10 in voting

1. Rick Pitino

2. Tom Jurich

3. Teddy Bridgewater

4. Dominique Hawkins

5. Kenny Perry

6. Makayla Epps

7. Antonio Andrews

8. A’dia Mathies

9. Charlie Strong

10. Russ Smith

Pitino becomes the first person to win this award three times. He also won it in 1990 and 1996. In 2013, Pitino led the Cardinals to a National Championship, was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, had a horse (Goldencents) run in the Kentucky Derby, got a tattoo, caught a marlin, and drank a lot of coconut water.

The final selections were made for this year’s McDonald’s All-American game that will be played April 2, 2014 in Chicago, IL. The Louisville Cardinals do not have a signee that made the final cut. This comes as a surprise as Shaquan Aaron has been putting up triple-doubles like it’s his job. Quentin Snider also had a shot at making it. Hopefully this means we see these guys at the Derby Classic here in Louisville.

However, there was some good news for Jeff Walz and the women’s basketball team as they have 2 signees that made the cut. Myisha Hines-Allen from Montclair, NJ and Mariya Moore from Richmond, CA both made it.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Single game tickets for four of the six remaining University of Louisville men’s basketball home games in the KFC Yum! Center are now available at a special price. Two games — the Cardinals’ next game on Thursday against Cincinnati and home finale against Connecticut on March 8 — are sold out.

Thursday’s game against Cincinnati has been labeled as “Throwback Thursday,” with fans encouraged to wear their vintage gear to the game. UofL is celebrating its 100th season of collegiate basketball competition this year.

Tickets for two of the Cardinals’ next three home games — Feb. 1 vs. UCF and Feb. 16 vs. Rutgers — are now on sale for $18 each for the limited number that remains available. Tickets for home games on Feb. 18 vs. USF and Feb. 27 vs. Temple are available for $15 each.

Tickets, which are located in the upper corners and end court areas of the KFC Yum! Center, are on sale at the UofL Ticket Office, located near Gate 2 of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium at 2800 South Floyd Street. The ticket office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Cardinal fans may also purchase tickets by visiting Ticketmaster online, calling 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting any Ticketmaster Ticket Center, including statewide Kroger locations. Convenience fees are applied with Ticketmaster orders.

Louisville’s Joao De Lucca and Tanja Kylliainen were recognized today as Swimmers of the Week from the American Athletic Conference. De Lucca was named Male Swimmer of the Week for the conference-best sixth time this season, while Kylliainen was honored as Female Swimmer of the Week for the second time.

De Lucca led the No. 7 Cardinals to victories over Kentucky and Notre Dame over the weekend, taking first place four times as an individual and was a part of two winning relays. He posted two NCAA ‘B’ cuts in the 200-yard freestyle, with a best time of 1:36.05. The senior also added two more ‘B’ cuts in the 100-yard freestyle, in 43.57 and 44.14. He helped the 400-yard freestyle relay team win twice, including a pool record 2:58.17. All six of his individual swims were among the 100 fastest in the nation this year.

Kylliainen was key as the Louisville women downed rival Kentucky 193-107 on Senior Day. She won her three individual events, led by a victory in the 200-yard butterfly that eclipsed her NCAA Invite time from last season and was the 20th best time in the country this year. She also touched the wall in 2:00.35 in the 200-yard IM, recording a NCAA ‘B’ cut

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville athletic department released on Monday the radio and web streaming scheduled for the Cardinals’ 2014 baseball season.

For the sixth consecutive season, News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA) will serve as the radio home for Louisville baseball with 47 regular-season games and all post-season games scheduled for broadcast by the Clarksville, Ind., station. With Sean Moth back calling the action, the radio schedule includes all 36 home games, three games each at American Athletic Conference foes Houston and UCF, midweek games at Indiana, Western Kentucky, Kentucky, Purdue and Vanderbilt and all of the Cardinals’ American Athletic Conference Championship and NCAA Championship games.

Just a quick reminder, the 2014 McDonald’s All-American Game selection show is today at 6pm on ESPNU. The Cards eligible for selection are Shaqquan Aaron, Quentin Snider, Jaylen Johnson and Chinanu Onuaku. Shaq is an overwhelming favorite to make it with Onuaku coming in second according to popular belief. Good luck to all nominees and Go Cards!

The 2014 recruiting class for men’s basketball at Louisville is in my opinion one of the best in a while. So it is important for Coach Pitino to keep up the momentum going into the 2015 class. On Thursday that momentum will continue. 2015 Guard Antonio Blakeney from Orlando comes in for his official visit. He is 6-4 and 170 pounds. His game is reminiscent of Jeremy Lamb’s, formerly of UCONN. Florida is the other team in this to watch in this recruiting battle according to CSZ’s recruiting analyst Steve Rummage. You can follow him on twitter at @blakeney96. He also looks at home with the word Cardinal on his jersey. Here are some videos to familiarize you with Mr Blakeney.

The Cards are 17-3 on the season yet the overwhelming feeling is the Cards are just starting to click. Many of us have questioned our hotel reservations in Dallas over the past few months but the light seems to be getting brighter. Nick Wiggins of Bleacher Report is one that believes the Cards are right on track. In Wiggins article Louisville Basketball: Why the Cardinals will make a third straight Final Four Nick gives his reasons why he hasn’t quit on the Cards just yet! Here is a few quotes from the article:

“Rick Pitino has proven to be a master at getting the most out of his players. There is a reason he has taken three different schools to the Final Four, won national championships at two different schools and is in the Hall of Fame. Pitino and his ability to “coach up” his players is the first feather in the cap for the Cardinals.”

Jerry Palm of cbssports.com released his latest NCAA Tournament Bracketology on Monday. This one has the Louisville Cardinals as a 6 seed in the South Region. There was no good way to show his full bracket on this page, so I will just list who is in the region with Louisville. To see his full bracket, click here. The South Regional is played in Memphis, TN.